Minnesota Statutes 524.1-107 – Evidence as to Death or Status
In proceedings under chapter 524 the Rules of Evidence in courts of general jurisdiction including any relating to simultaneous deaths, are applicable unless specifically displaced by this chapter. In addition, the following rules relating to determination of death and status are applicable:
Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 524.1-107
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
(1) a certified or authenticated copy of a death record purporting to be issued by an official or agency of the place where the death purportedly occurred is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date and time of death and the identity of the decedent;
(2) a certified or authenticated copy of any record or report of a governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that a person is missing, detained, dead, or alive is prima facie evidence of the status and of the dates, circumstances and places disclosed by the record or report;
(3) the provisions of section 578.16 shall govern the presumption of death of a person whose absence is not satisfactorily explained.